Integrative Effects of Vinyasa Yoga and Animal Flow Exercises on Sprint Performance and Physiological Adaptations in Adolescent Male Sprinters

Objectives. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the implementation of Vinyasa yoga or Animal Flow exercises alongside a structured sprint training programme would result in greater improvements in selected performance and physiological variables among adolescent male sprinters compared with a control group that performed sprint training only. Materials and Methods. Forty-five high-school male sprinters (16.0 ± 0.8 years) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in a 12-week randomized intervention: sprint training only (ST), Vinyasa Yoga plus sprint training (VY+ST), or Animal Flow plus sprint training (AF+ST). All groups completed the same sprint training programme three times per week, while the experimental groups additionally performed 45 minutes of adjunct training on alternate days. Performance variables included 30-m sprint time, vertical jump height, and agility, whereas physiological variables included flexibility, estimated aerobic capacity (Cooper 12-minute run test), and resting heart rate. Pre- and post-test data were analysed using paired-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA on change scores, with effect sizes reported. Results. Both integrative training groups demonstrated significantly greater improvements across all performance and physiological variables compared with the ST group (p < .05). The VY+ST group exhibited comparatively larger improvements in flexibility, estimated aerobic capacity, and resting heart rate, whereas the AF+ST group showed greater gains in vertical jump performance and agility. Large between-group effect sizes were observed for all outcome measures. Conclusions. The findings suggest that supplementing sprint training with Vinyasa Yoga or Animal Flow is associated with favourable and modality-specific adaptations in adolescent male sprinters. These integrative, movement-based approaches may serve as complementary strategies within youth sprint training programmes. However, given the indirect assessment of aerobic capacity and the absence of maturation control and a priori power analysis, the results should be interpreted with caution.